Monday, November 29, 2010

Have I mentioned that I am done with gift shopping?? I did lots of my shopping on Etsy this year. Unfortunately (orfortunately?) most of what I purchased is for ME!

I am giving a little felted bowl from my friend Gretchen's Etsy shop as one gift (cute lil' four leaf clover bowl). I have many of her little felted bowls sitting around my house. All in just the right places to catch treasures. Gretchen is doing a giveaway on her blog this week. I love my coffee cuff from her and always carry it in my bag. You should go enter!

(Oh - and I also have two little felted bags from Gretchen. One holds my crochet needles, the other my lip gloss. I love her work!)

Another friend just recently opened her Etsy store Found Objects. Stephanie makes the most amazing jewelry. I've had that mixed media necklace around my neck. So nice. But anything that comes from Stephanie is amazing. She's just one of those people.

(And just for the record, it took me several hours and some $ to compose this post as I kept getting side tracked on Etsy... so easy to do!)

Friday, November 26, 2010

I just realized that I never shared photos from our big trip this summer. Not going to get much commentary now that we are several months post trip, but here is the basics.

Kids and I flew into Boston. Spent the night with my college friend Siri. SO good to see her and meet baby Erik. The next day the kids and I explored Boston a bit.

Old North Church

(the kids were less than impressed)

Paul Revere

(they did like that as we had been reading Paul Revere books)

Fortunately the Freedom Trail led to ice cream

then we found the carousal

and the fountains!

After Boston, we drove to Vermont to stay with Matt's sister and the cousins. I could have stayed there all summer. We had access to a great swim lake and there was much to explore in the area. So much fun to be with cousins!

After several glorious days in Vermont, Matt's sister and I loaded the 4 kids and drove to the island in Maine where Matt's mom spends her summers (remember we were there 3 years ago? Right after I started this blog!). We spent one night before heading up to Acadia National Park in my mother-in-law's RV.

In Acadia we...

Explored tide pools

Played on the beach

Collected feathers

(Poor Jack was so proud of all the feathers. He was trying to sell them to other beach goers. Didn't have any luck.)

Gave new meaning to eating "sand"wiches

Took care of necessities while camping

Ate picnics with wildlife

Conquered (by car!) the highest point on the Eastern seaboard

It's Cadillac Mountain

(about 1500 ft)

Of course the kids also earned their Junior Ranger badges. After 4 nights camping, I took the kids to Portland to relax in a hotel for a night before Matt arrived. Matt's flight was cancelled, so we ended up getting two nights in hotels. And there is still more to come...

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Wanted to share this little doll quilt that I made for my niece's birthday last week. Made it with scraps for a mini version of this quilt and got the idea for the pillow & case from this site. It was so much fun to make! I want to make a few more soon.

I feel like I've been blogging about quilting a bit much lately. Sorry. It is just what has been keeping me busy lately.

Monday, November 22, 2010

Joining in again on Amy's One Week, One Challenge. I really want to get my Christmas table runner's binding done, because I really want to be able to put it on my dining room table when I start decorating next week. Since taking this photo, I've already stitched the binding on. I'm bringing it with me on my Thanksgiving trip to try to finish up. I'm also bringing along some other "projects" that I've been meaning to get done... recipe binders, old magazines stack, an unfinished crochet project, another quilt that needs binding, etc. It is enough to keep me busy for months, so I'm not sure why I think I'll get it done in a few days! But I always overpack... especially when driving and my space isn't so limited...

Sunday, November 21, 2010

Today is Matt's birthday! We are celebrating with dinner out with some friends and family. It will be fun, but I really wish we were doing what we did last year. Matt actually offered to send me for a few days last week, but I opted to stay home and get some house projects done. Sorta regretting my decision...

I've been busy sewing. I have multiple projects started, but few finished. I did complete a quilt for my grandma for Christmas. I had plans to make many quilts as Christmas gifts, but I'm beginning to accept that this will be the only one I give this year. My grandma is amazing at finding four leaf clovers, so I wanted to incorporate that theme. Plus she loves pink (guess it runs in the family!) so I knew I wanted lots of pink.

I think I'm going to title this quilt "Fields of Flowers and Clovers"

And my first attempt at quilting words. I wanted it to be subtle. (It says "Grandma" and "Love Kristen")

I was going to use a stripe for the binding, but I was afraid it was looking too much like a baby quilt. Instead I went with a brown for some contrast.

My Organized Christmas is going really well. I'm officially done gift shopping (although I'll probably still get a few things for the kids... I usually overbuy for them and then the leftovers become birthday presents in February and March). The week after Thanksgiving I plan to do some cooking/freezing (Miss D is going to help!), decorate the house, send off all packages and then just enjoy the rest of the season doing things I love - baking, crafting, eating!

My father-in-law is flying in for a visit today. He'll stay through the week to keep Matt company. Poor Matt has to work over Thanksgiving, but the kids and I (and Nina Sprinkles!) are heading back to Texas for the holiday. I hate to fly over Thanksgiving so we are hitting the road for the trip. Looking forward to whatever crazy adventures await us!

Thursday, November 11, 2010

Sometimes I wish that my blog wasn't read by people I know. Or maybe just a select few that I know and trust. So I could put more out there. Not feel so restrained. Sometimes I feel like I have to hold back too much because I know certain people are reading. Can't complain about my mom (just kidding, Mom! I'd NEVER complain about you!) or husband (no sense denying it to you, Matt! LOL) and such.

I've thought about starting a new/another blog, but it is difficult just to keep up this one. Plus that would mean another login name and password. I'm so lazy I don't even want to sign into another site.

Child #2 started puking this morning. Only good thing is that it is a good excuse to let him sit on the couch and watch TV all day. Yup, feeling pretty lazy.

Sunday, November 07, 2010

Has it really been an entire week since I last posted? And I have so much I want to say. Just not much time nor energy to write it out, even with that extra hour today. What I've survived this week, in no particular order...

Day off with Matt

Tennis x3

2 of 3 planned runs (I gave up one run to play tennis... yikes!)

Gym workout x2

Family dinner party with friends

1 puking child

More dinner plans cancelled (due to above) and thus a relaxed weekend night at home